For a few years now, Shoei has made its Transitions photochromic visor available in one flavor in North America. What Shoei calls its first “light-intelligent shield” has fit any lids that require the CWR-1 visor, including the RF-1200, RF-SR, and X-Fourteen helmets. If you like this idea but rock a different Shoei lid, there may be some good news for you with Shoei’s newest release.

Shoei is proud to announce a new CNS-2 Transitions face shield. In North America, that’s you if you wear a Hornet X2. It’s a good option to consider if you want to carry one less thing with you when you’re out riding.

Transitions Optical, for those unfamiliar, is a company that specializes in photochromic coatings for plastic lenses. If you wear eyeglasses or know someone who does, you’ve likely been offered the option of Transitions coatings on your prescription eyeglass lenses. Activated by UV rays in sunlight, lenses treated with this coating darken to become UV-resistant sunglasses. The video above is from 2015 but demonstrates how this collaboration between Shoei and Transitions Optical works.

I haven’t used a Transitions-equipped face shield in a helmet yet, but I’ve worn eyeglasses with Transitions coatings before. My first pair, years ago, took longer than I’d like to switch back from dark smoke to crystal clear again. I didn’t try another pair with this coating for several years afterward because I was so unimpressed. 

It will be interesting to see what reviews from people who’ve tried this face shield have to say about transition times. I can tell you that in eyeglasses, this technology has improved a lot. I tried another pair of glasses with Transitions a couple of years ago, and it was just as fast at shifting from smoke to clear as I wished that first pair had been. The company has clearly made huge strides on that front, which I hope have also carried over to its helmet visor coatings for Shoei. 

Temperature can also be a factor in how quickly Transitions coatings work, so how well this new shield stacks up to your demands as a rider may vary. Shoei says it blocks 100 percent of UV rays, which is certainly good news for all the hours we spend on our bikes. Pricing information isn’t posted yet, but the CWR-1 Transitions face shield runs about US $200.

Source: Shoei, YouTube

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